Trickery
by Kylara Kitsune
Summary: Sometimes, it takes a little scheming to get people together, even if you know they'd be perfect for one another. Axel/Kairi.


**AN: I had some mad friends in school, but we were never quite this bad. Though it was never a good idea to let us get bored. Prompt number 48 - "Do you like my new lip piercing?"**

"Naminé, I'm bored. We need something to do."

Naminé groaned, burying her face in her hands. Last time Roxas had declared himself bored, they'd almost set the school on fire, and had been suspended for a week as a result. "We're not making stink bombs in the chemistry lab again."

"Nothing so drastic." Roxas doodled absently on a scrap of paper.

"We're not putting up rude posters suggesting things about the teachers."

"No. That one, I have to admit, wasn't one of my better ideas."

"We're not persuading Axel to do a striptease in assembly again."

"I didn't… Oh. That one was a dare. I didn't think he'd actually go through with it."

"Roxas, this is Axel we're talking about. When has he ever been too embarrassed to do something?"

"You've got a point there." Roxas looked down at his drawing, frowned, and changed a few small details. It now pictured two crossed keyblades, Oblivion and Oathkeeper. "What do you think of that, Naminé, as the resident artist?"

Naminé took the paper that Roxas slid across the desk. "It looks good."

"I might get it tattooed somewhere."

"Oh, Roxas." Naminé shook her head. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I said I might. I'm thinking about it." He took his drawing back, sliding it into his pocket. "Anyway, I'm still bored…" His voice trailed off as he spotted two of his friends on the other side of the room, leaning over a book and looking as though they were closer than usual to each other. Or at least Axel was trying to get closer to Kairi without her noticing.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the pyro has a crush on the princess." Roxas grinned. A plan was beginning to hatch in his mind. Naminé, spotting the familiar expression that always meant trouble, groaned again. She always ended up being dragged into his nefarious plots.

………………

"Kairi."

"Roxas."

"Don't suppose you'd care to help with my Biology homework, would you? Only you seem to understand it a lot better than I do."

"Sit down, Roxas, I'll have a look at it." She turned to Axel. "We'll have to finish this later, if that's ok."

"No problem at all, princess." She scowled at him. Yes, she was one of the Princesses of Heart, but she hated being reminded of it, as though the title reduced her to the position of "damsel in distress".

"My name is Kairi. Remember that."

"Kairi. Right. I got it memorised." Axel winked at her before walking off. Kairi growled in annoyance.

"Sometimes, I really hate him."

For once, Roxas kept his mouth shut. He wanted to find out what Axel thought of her before beginning his plan to get them together. They were so alike it was ridiculous – they'd be a perfect match.

………………

"Ouch."

"Who's that?"

"Axel? Is that you?

"Kairi?"

"I blame Roxas. I don't know what he's up to this time, but every single thing that goes wrong here has something to do with him and Naminé."

A round of applause greeted Kairi's statement. Roxas was clearly listening at the (locked) door. "Well done, Kairi."

"Ok, Rox, joke's over. You can let us out now."

"That'd be too easy, Axel. I'll let you out… on one condition."

If the two prisoners had been able to see each other in the dark room, they'd have noticed that they were wearing identical expressions of dismay. Last time Axel had agreed to something Roxas had suggested, he'd ended up getting on stage during assembly and stripping down to his boxers in front of the entire school. It hadn't been a pleasant experience, and it had made him very wary.

"What's the condition, Roxas?"

"You and Kairi have to kiss. And don't think I can't see you, because I can."

"There's a camera in here somewhere. Naminé's helping him, and the girl's a genius with stuff like that." They both groaned. "Just a kiss, right, Roxas?"

"On the lips."

"Obviously. This is one of your conditions we're talking about."

"Just a kiss, huh, Kairi?"

"We're not getting out of here otherwise. There aren't any windows we could climb out of. Pretend I'm one of your slutty girlfriends, if it makes it easier."

"While you pretend I'm… Sora?"

Kairi didn't answer. Instead, she pressed her lips gently against Axel's, who responded by sliding his hands into her hair. The kiss sparked more emotions than either of them had expected, and by the time Roxas unlocked the door (and promptly scarpered before they could catch him), they were both blushing fiercely.

"Well, see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Bye."

………………

Naminé was printing the stills from the video she'd captured of Axel and Kairi's kiss when Roxas arrived the next morning.

"I've got the pictures, Roxas."

"Those look great. By the way, do you like my new lip piercing?"

"Your new… what?"

"Piercing." He pointed to the ring on his lower lip. "You weren't too impressed with the idea of a tattoo, so I got this instead."

Her head dropped forwards onto the table. "If this is what you do when you're slightly bored, then heaven help us if…"

Before she could finish speaking, Roxas had burst out laughing. "It's fake, Nami. Now, let's have a proper look at those pictures."

………………

Axel and Kairi managed to successfully avoid each other until lunchtime, when the terrible two (Roxas and Naminé) decided to show them the photos, then left them alone, claiming they had things to do.

"Looks like pretending I was one of your sluts worked."

Axel looked hurt. "As did pretending I was Sora."

Kairi turned away. She had admired Sora for quite a while, but not for the last few months. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet that Axel almost missed it. "I didn't pretend you were Sora. I didn't need to."

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "I wasn't pretending either, Kairi."

She turned back to face him, blue eyes meeting green. She knew he was telling the truth. "Could we try again? Properly, this time?"

Axel's response was to brush his lips softly over hers.

**AN: Reviews, as ever, would be very much appreciated.**


End file.
